Sometimes, sports fans have other interests, and one of those interests for me happens to be movies. And since I’m busy and don’t always get to go see movies, movie trailers are a second passion.
Luckily, there’s no shortage of new trailers and new releases escaping into the wild this week, so here’s a quick look at some of the best that Hollywood has to offer.
So, without further ado, let’s get to the inaugural edition of what we’re calling “Spoiler Alert,” taking a look at the hottest movie trailers of this week along with a couple of films hitting theaters this weekend and reveal some thoughts on the upcoming films — based only on their trailers.
Skyfall
Oh, look. James Bond is back. A full four years after the quietly terrible Quantam of Solace, Daniel Craig returns as everybody’s favorite British superagent in Skyfall, due out in November. Judging by the flashback during the word association/interrogation scene, it seems like 007 is up to something that his MI6 pals don’t entirely trust him about, a la Jason Bourne.
Obviously, I’m intrigued, but I’m still not entirely sure how we’re supposed to handle this reboot of the Bond series. Is Craig rewriting over the old Sean Connery storylines? Does anything that Pierce Brosnan did matter? The fact that Dame Judy Dench is still in this iteration just confuses me more.
Bottom line, it’s Bond. There will be explosions, girls, foreign accents and then more explosions. My biggest hope is that this time, we actually get to pull back the curtain on this evil organization Bond is fighting against, instead of just dropping big hints that something bigger is eventually coming.
The Great Gatsby
Yes, they joked about making this movie in Entourage. Yes, I realize Kanye West wasn’t alive in the 1920s. It doesn’t matter. Leonardo DiCaprio will be gunning for an Academy Award here, and I’m guessing he’ll at least get a nomination for his efforts.
Everything about this trailer screams “Oscar bait,” but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Playing Gatsby is basically like playing Hamlet at this point — every actor may want to do it, but they all can’t. That’s why it was Robert Redford last time and it’s DiCaprio this time. You need the charisma and the serious acting chops to pull off a role like this.
My only hang-up here is that director Baz Luhrmann seems really intent on living up to the “This is the Great American Novel” legacy of Gatsby, and I’m not sure that translates into a modern-day movie. Your parents will probably love it, though.
Anchorman 2
This movie will be huge. End of story. Everybody loved Anchorman, and the fact that the original cast of Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell and David Koechner are all back bodes well. What I’m most interested in seeing, however, is going to be the way they work Brick Tamland into the plot of this one.
Last time, Brick was the lovable loser, and Carrell stole pretty much every scene he was in. Now, he’s a bona fide movie star. Brick Tamland could probably carry his own movie (although Evan Almighty proves that isn’t the best idea). Rudd and Koechner are bigger now than they were in 2004 as well, but the fact that Carrell might be more well-known than Ferrell at this particular point in time will force Brick into the spotlight.
Carrell can carry the load, but how they expand on Brick’s character beyond the “Hi, I’m dumb and also I’m dumb” persona he’s shown so far will decide if this movie is good or great.
Men in Black 3
If you don’t know what to expect from a Will Smith vehicle at this point, I don’t know what to tell you. Pick four out of the five: cool stunts, explosions, aliens, snappy one-liners and Carlton Banks. There, you’ve got yourself his next project.
The thing is, the formula works. While Men in Black 2 wasn’t up to snuff, this one shows no sign of Johnny Knoxville, and adding Bill Hader and Jemaine Clement into the mix should more than make up for the comedic chops that Smith seems to have strayed from in recent times.
The eight-year-old me that loved Men in Black is still unabashedly thrilled to see this movie, while the current-day me is tentative. The good news is, there are a lot of current eight-year-olds now who will still love the heck out of it.
Chernobyl Diaries
Quite frankly, this looks terrifying.
I’m a sucker for the fake documentary style that Oren Peli is dominating these days (I loved The River), so this is right up my alley. Ignore the fact that there’s no real reason for a documentary crew to be following these kids into Chernobyl, and hang on for what looks like a wild ride.
